25 Photos Captured with the X-Pro1

Over the last few weeks I have been fortunate enough to have access to a pre-production Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera. I have been blown away by what this camera is capable of producing with minimal effort by the photographer, from dramatic black and white street photography through to long exposure captures the camera excels in all areas. The X-Pro1 is a real joy to use and even allows the photographer to adjust every image setting without taking the camera away from my eye via the amazing EVF (Electronic viewfinder).

I feel much more in control of the image output with the X-Pro1 than I am with my digital SLR. I have already decided my 50mm f1.4 Canon lens is the first to see the chop from my kitbag. The Fujion 35mm is a 53mm equivalent and I am able to literally pick out the focus points perfectly every time with perfect bokeh that is smooth enriching the foreground. The photo at the top of the post was at f1.4 and I gave myself a single chance to pick out the spike to photograph at speed. You can view it larger here.

I really can’t find a single thing I would change about the camera, it is beautiful, discreet, agile and elegant yet powerful enough to compete with my full frame body and capable of producing a colour depth and range that brings the photo to life.

Here are 25 of the photos I have taken over the last few weeks with the preproduction X-Pro1. Click on any photo to view it large on flickr.

@thual. I am in no rush to sell the 5DMKII given the current market value but that may change if I keep up my current usage levels. As more lenses come out for the X-Pro1 I think many more dSLR users will do the same.

As lovely as they are, I don’t see any shots here that couldn’t be achieved with the X100?, perhaps the only one would be the shot of the window through the doorway which shows a shallower DOF, but the others could easily be from the X100, to me I haven’t seen any shots from the X-Pro1 that would make me upgrade from the X100

@ DaveG I am pretty sure I could achieve these shots on any camera. I own the X100 and yes I probably could create the same photos but they would all be at 35mm framing and as you say yourself there is the shallower DoF. In addition there is the faster focus, even better high ISO low light images and better interface/usability. To be honest I don’t see it as a X100 replacement more as a DSLR replacement to work alongside my X100.

David,
I completely agree with your statement. Like yourself, I have been lugging around a DSLR for many trips and it seems to take a lot away from the experience. Having to worry about carrying around with all the heavy lenses is not my thing. I am working to replace it with the X-Pro1. Thank you for your great posts!

Cheers!
Hugo

PS: Expect to see me around here more often. Just discovered your fantastic blog! It I really like the layout.

I’ve been thinking about getting myself an X100 to go alongside my DSLRs when covering weddings. I may seriously have to consider an X-Pro1 instead – although not for the interchangeable lenses. I was attracted to the X100 because of the high ISO noise performance and am interested in your comment that the X-Pro1 is even better in this respect. My first DSLR was a Fuji S2Pro, so have always had a lot of time for Fuji gear.

Beautiful photos. You have amazing vision
I am going to wait for the 14mm lens to see how that works, if it even works with the OVF, for me to want the XPro1 truly.
I realy like ultrawide
Was thinking about getting the XPro1 + 14mm + fixed tele(like the 60mm now) Other stuff I get from my X100

Thanks for sharing your brilliant photos. It helped me to decide to go for the Xpro1. Having been a professional photographer since the mid ’70 s lugging around more equipment as most of us I’m afraid , it seems this Fuji camera brings me back to the beginnings : an old Leica M2 followed by to many other bigger and bigger bricks in overloaded camera bags. Freedom is around the corner , this quality in a street camera WOW !!
MayI take the freedom to give you a little hint to improve your already fantastic imaging : Do not always keep the horizon in the natural middel of the frame , a very narrow strip of sky with a lot of foreground … or the opposite , a dramatic sky with minimalist horizon . You get it 😉 . Cheers: Jacob

hi, i stumbled this wonderful blog 😉 while surfing reviews about fujix100. I am debating whether to get fujix100 or leica dlux5. I realized that carrying dslr around is a hassle sometimes it bothers other people. Anyways, i love all your work. Im still confused which one i’ll buy ;(

I do all the processing in post as I like to see how an image looks full screen before I decide if it is mono or not. The film simulations are great, I use Velvia a lot but some images are better in colour, in post you have a choice.

Nice collection of images David. I particularly like the abandoned house ones. Will go 100% with your comment regarding the decision to convert to mono being post-processing but I am a little confused by “I use Velvia a lot but some images are better in colour” as Velvia is colour.

I am sure you are familiar with the term ‘previsualisation’ which is the practice of deciding how the print will look before pressing the button. It was used a lot in film days because you had to make a choice of which stock (and sometimes which camera) to use. With digital I find that I have to previsualise at the taking stage and again at the processing stage. For a long time I found this very difficult and it took me a long time to get back into b&w as a result, but I am there now.

I sold all of my Nikon gear and got the XP1 with the 35 and 60 lens. I love it. I actually had the X100 for 48 hours but after extensive time with it I decided I needed a bit more flexibility and the XF roadmap looks fantastic.

So happy with this camera. I actually use a lot of the in-camera RAW processing instead of desktop.